A complex and rampant phenomenon in Egyptian society, sectarian violence, has been infesting Egypt for a long time. It has been spawned by a host of economic, social and cultural woes.
There is a direct and undeniable link between the emergence of these tensions in the Egyptian political landscape and the political system that has been in place since the 1952 military coup. Sectarian tensions have blighted Egyptian society because of the ill-advised policies pursued by the country’s successive regimes.
For example, there was the unwise and inflammatory decision of the late president Anwar al-Sadat to label himself “the Muslim president of a Muslim state.” Sadat’s errors also included his introduction of amendments to Article 2 of the Constitution (stating that Islam is one of the principle sources of Egyptian legislation), as well as his moves to bolster the presence of Islamic political groups.
A reading of the Egyptian political scene during the time of the 1952 July coup may also help us draw significant conclusions about why sectarianism has grow to today’s levels. Many of the Free Officers, the members of the army who had orchestrated the coup against the monarchy of King Farouk, had close ties with, or were even members of, the Muslim Brotherhood. This included Gamal Abdel Nasser. Significantly, there was not a single Coptic Christian among the officers.
Despite the fact that the regime launched an assault against the Muslim Brotherhood after the organization’s attempt on the life of Abdel Nasser, the Free Officers were extremely reticent about including Christians within their ranks. This reluctance demonstrated how the basic uniform religious make-up of the regime could fuel Egypt’s sectarian tensions.
In addition, some observers argue that Christians in Egypt have been subjected to systematic forms of discrimination. This has alienated them and left them so disgruntled that some have become radicalized. Such a state of affairs can be attributed to the lack of true democracy, which in turn undermines tolerance and harmony, fueling fanaticism and bigotry.
This bleak picture, which has come to define Egypt’s domestic relationships today, is in stark contrast with the peaceful coexistence that used to mark the harmonious relations between the Muslim majority and the Christian minority in the years between the 1919 revolution against the British occupation and the 1952 Free Officers coup.
There is no doubt that the political debacle experienced by Egypt in the wake of the 1952 coup – which manifested itself through the strict censorship of the media, the abolition of political parties, and an iron grip imposed by the regime on civil society – took its toll on Muslims and Christians alike. However, Christians were further deprived of assuming any posts of responsibility in the intelligence or security agencies. This blatant injustice inflicted on the Christian minority played a crucial role in compounding the present Coptic sentiment of political dissatisfaction.
Moreover, political and cultural awareness in Egypt has considerably deteriorated because of the absence of intellectual enlightenment in Nasser’s era. This, in turn, eroded the basic values of citizenship, equality and national unity. As for today, the country is in dire need of launching an awareness campaign to lead people to embrace the lofty values of religious tolerance and to renounce bigotry. The mass media and educational institutions can help carry this message far and wide.
We must also bear in mind that Egypt’s current economic and social conditions are deplorable, and have led to more than 30 percent of the Egyptian population living under the poverty line. This has made Egypt a breeding ground for social ills such as extremism and religious intolerance.
Some religious institutions, whether Muslim or Christian, have been embroiled in vicious campaigns inciting hatred and stoking extremism on both sides. The houses of God mustn’t be used as strongholds to disseminate erroneous and slanderous ideas, further entrenching divisions between Muslim and Christian communities.
We Egyptians are facing real threats to our social cohesion and our future as a nation. We must live up to this challenge and be keenly alert to the looming sectarian danger that is jeopardizing our national unity.
Osama al-Ghazali Harb is editor in chief of the monthly Al-Siyassa al-Dawliyya published by Al-Ahram and is one of the founders of the Democratic Front Party. This abridged article is distributed by the Common Ground News Service (www.commongroundnews.org) with permission from The Daily News Egypt.
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